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Cubans dominate in World Junior opener

Eighteen-hour bus rides and mid-day baseball games don`t mix.
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Cuban pitcher Eddyalb Valentin throws the first pitch of the World Junior Baseball Championship at Port Arthur Stadium on Friday. (By Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com)
Eighteen-hour bus rides and mid-day baseball games don`t mix.

The Panamanians learned that the hard way on Friday afternoon, falling victim to a powerful Cuban team that got plenty of sleep and rolled out to a 10-0 win to kick off the World Junior Baseball Championship.

The game was called in the seventh because of the tournament`s 10-run mercy rule.

Guillermo Aviles was a triple short of the cycle, including a second-inning solo shot over the wall in right that kick-started the scoring.

Meanwhile southpaw starter Eddyalb Valentin was all but unhittable, allowing just three balls to leave the infield in a two-hit, two-walk dominating performance.

It was pretty much what Panamanian manager Claudino Hernandez was expecting.

“It wasn’t that easy,” Hernandez said through a translator. “We came from far away. Yesterday we spent 18 hours on the road. The kids, they’re very, very tired. We hope tomorrow will be a different day.”

Hernandez said the players got about five hours of sleep prior to the game, as good an explanation as any for the four errors they committed in the field.

The Panamanians held their own through three innings, but fell apart in the fourth when 10 Cubans came to the plate.

Victor Rivas grounded to second to start the inning, but a throwing error by Gerald Chin. Avile doubled to the rightfield corner, putting runners on second and third. They didn’t remain their long. Gelkis Jimenez slashed a single up the middle, plating both Rivas and Avile and Cuba was up 4-0.

Daniel Cresp singled between short and third, then Hernandez popped one to right that dropped. When Luis Sempris’s throw to third was off line, Jimenez trotted home with the Cubans fifth run.

They added their sixth on a sacrifice fly by Yasiel Belaguert.

After a two-out walk to Andy Ibanez, Rivera was lifted, replaced by Benjamin Lozada, who struck out Rivas to end the inning.

Lozada kept the Cubans in check in the fifth, despite hitting back-to-back batters with one out.

But a single and three wild pitches plated Ibanez with Cuba’s seventh run.

It all came to a crashing halt in the seventh when Rivas, with the bases loaded, singled to centre, scoring two more. A throwing error on the play brought Saler across the plate, ending the game.

Cuba takes on Canada on Saturday night while a rested Panamanian team will hope for a better result against the Czech Republic at Central Field.

World views: Hoping to discourage a repeat from 2008, when several of their players defected in Edmonton at the World Juniors, tbnewswatch has learned the Cubans have reportedly had the beds taken out of their hotel rooms and replaced them with several cots. They also have a coach sleeping in each room to lessen the likelihood of someone jumping ship ... The Cuba/Panama tilt was delayed 45 minutes because of rain.



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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